Saturday, November 17, 2012

AFGC 2012

The annual Asian Fixed Gear Championship (AFGC) is now an annual event attracting more and more global attention, from the like of hipster heavyweights, such as Prolly and, of course, HK's own flwrider. You can expect a lot of neon, leopard print, heavy rimmed glasses and hipster / gangnam style.

(My gwuilo in lycra style was a little out of place)

Luckily Sander was on hand to normalise my riding gear a little...

But, style pointers aside, you can also expect a whole lot of fun! I missed the tricks competition, but looking at the above photo it must have been a sight to behold.

I didn't miss Asia's first fixed gear cyclo-cross on a random construction site using a borrowed bike with 20" wheels and about a 20" gear! Funnily enough, I was bobbin' at this, but it was a seriously fun event that brought the best out of everyone.

I was less useless at the event I'd pinpointed as the one I wanted to win- the fixed gear criterium. This sort of racing is right up my street- fast and hard with a bit of tactical nouse required, but hard enough that you can't just sit in and jump for the sprint at the end. I set out to make the race fast from the start, but found myself on the back foot over the first few laps as those with a better knowledge of the corners on this very short course hit them hard, gaining a few lengths on me and opening up gaps.

However, pretty soon we were down to a select group of riders- Sander, a couple of Chinese guys (one working, one happy to sit in) and myself. After a few digs the guy who'd been working got blown out the back and the race was on. After about 20 laps I started putting more attacks in on the straights from the front, trying to snap the elastic. Eventually this worked, and I was then off the front in solo TT mode, trying to stay upright with no pedal strikes in the corners- with about 20km to ride out for the win.

However, mid flight, I got called in at the pits to pull over- the race was finished. It turns out we had a few administrative difficulties with the boys in blue and that was that- race over. Still, a proper Shenzhen Sunday day out. Thanks to Jan, Sander, Eric & Brian- here's to AFGC 2013!